Allegheny County Jail inmate tries to escape custody while at a hospital, 2 officers injured

PITTSBURGH — An Allegheny County Jail inmate who tried to escape police custody while at the hospital is raising safety concerns.

Officer Brian Englert is the President of the Allegheny County Prison Employee Independent Union. Over the weekend, he says two correctional officers were put into a dangerous situation when an inmate they had transported to the hospital tried to escape.

Englert said a referendum taxpayers voted on in 2021 stripped correctional officers of some of their most critical safety tools.

“The inmate needed to use the urinal so we had to unrestrain one of his hands in order to hold the portable urinal. He was able to slip his handcuffs and reach for the officer’s firearm,” Englert said.

Police quickly reacted and were able to get the inmate restrained again but incidents like these have been on the rise..

“We’ve had three escape attempts in the last year, and then in the last 18 months, there’s been seven,” Englert said.

The 205 referendum was put into place by Allegheny County voters.

“The referendum appeared on the ballot in 2021 to ban the use of solitary confinement but behind that referendum was also the ban of the use of a restraint chair, OC spray and leg shackles. A lot of people didn’t realize that it was taking away a lot of tools that every other county surrounding Allegheny still uses to this day for public safety,” Englert continued.

“It’s something that was up to the voters that actually changed the home rule charter of Allegheny County to include that. We could not if we wanted to undo a law that was implemented by the voters of Allegheny County,” said Councilperson Bethany Hallam, who is also a member of the jail oversight board.

Englert says the union has asked for training on how to deal with these dangerous situations where correctional officers don’t have traditional safety tools. He says the next step is to take it back to the voters.

“We’re preparing to challenge the referendum with a ballot question of our own next year to overturn it in May,” Englert said.

Channel 11 reached out to the Allegheny County Jail for comment. We received the following statement:

“We can’t discuss specifics because of privacy and security concerns, but these types of incidents occur at times in correctional settings. In this instance, an officer was treated and released.”

Englert says an employee survey showed 89% of officers in the building feel less safe than the year before.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group